Portugal: The land of explorers
Portugal: The land of explorers
Portugal has given the world many great explorers in the 15th
and 16th century. Prince Henry the Navigator was one of them in the
early days of the exploration era. This magnificent monument was built on the
north bank of the Tagus River in 1960 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of
the death of Prince Henry the Navigator. It is called Monument to the Discoveries
(Portuguese name: Padrão dos Descobrimentos). It is shaped like a ship
venturing out in the river with sculptures of important historical figures such
as King Manuel I, poet Camões, Vasco da Gama, Magellan, Cabral, and several
other notable Portuguese explorers, crusaders, monks, cartographers, and
cosmographers, following Prince Henry the Navigator. An elevator takes visitors
to the top for some great views of nearby monuments. In the background is the spectacular
suspension bridge called 25 de Abril Bridge. The bridge looks very similar to
the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, USA.
Standing there I imagined Vasco da Gama setting out on his
first voyage to find trade route to India. The immense significance of the
place got me thinking. India’s history would have been so much
different as other European countries like Netherlands, England, France and Denmark followed Vasco da Gama’s sea route. India probably wouldn't have faced colonialism for a
few more decades if only he had reached somewhere else like Christopher Columbus!
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